Fracking foes want loophole shut

ALBANY — Opponents of natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, want Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to make sure the governor won't be able use his 2012-13 budget to sneak the technique into the state budget after lawmakers approve it.

A letter to Silver signed Wednesday by 53 environmental and health organizations asked that lawmakers remove language from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget that would allow the governor later to move funds between agencies at the executive's discretion — a move that the signatories fear could allow him to shift money to the Department of Environmental Conservation to cover regulatory costs of allowing gas drilling to commence.

Such "transfer language" could "allow the state to roll out a fracking program the Legislature hasn't signed off on," said Katherine Nadeau, program director of Environmental Advocates of New York.

Nadeau and others who signed the letter said Cuomo and DEC should not have the authority or the resources to allow hydrofracking until the legislature is satisfied the technique can be regulated to protect public health and the environment.

The Cuomo administration says the transfer language is needed to aid the consolidation of "back-office" functions across different agencies.

"We are reviewing the letter, and these are good points to consider," said Katie Derickson, a Silver spokeswoman.